Red Zone: Boys of Fall (22 page)

Oakley kissed her as she settled beneath him, his tongue stroking hers hungrily. “God, I missed you.”

Feeling guilty for being too stupid to live and rejecting their affections, she kissed him back and offered him the same vow he and Joel gave her on the porch. The one that even now was resonating in her heart. “Never again. I’ll never be so stupid again.”

“You going to tell us what changed your mind?” he asked.

She nodded.

“Later.” Joel’s voice had taken on an almost pained tone that had her laughing again. She’d never been this downright giddy before. “She can tell us later.”

Oakley didn’t bother to disagree. Instead, he grasped his cock and guided it into Sadie. She gasped as he continued to push in, not stopping until he was completely lodged within her. Then, he paused.

She started to give him hell for stopping, for teasing her, but Joel wasn’t wasting any time. She heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper, then heard Oakley hiss.

Joel tried to go slow, tried to wrap his head around what was happening. There were too many good things, too many amazing sensations overwhelming him. Oakley pressed back against his cock as Joel pushed into him. He was doing it. Making love to Oakley. God. And Sadie.

He’d never once—in all his life—considered having sex with another man. However, he had been able to think of little else since that Truth or Dare game. Then, like now, it was Sadie who’d given him the push he’d needed to take this chance.

Joel tightened his grip on Oakley’s hips. He hadn’t been joking when he said this wouldn’t take long. Having sex with a man was so different from being with a woman. Joel suddenly understood Oakley’s desire for both sexes.

Oakley groaned once he was fully lodged. Joel couldn’t resist making the journey again, so he withdrew instantly. As he moved out, Oakley moved into Sadie. Within a half-dozen thrusts, they had found a rhythm that had each of them gasping, clenching and begging for more.

Joel had anticipated an easier ride for their first time, but none of them ever seemed content to take the path of least resistance. Each thrust grew harder and the pace increased. Joel wondered how in the fuck Oakley was hanging in there and for a moment, he considered what it must feel like to be doubly penetrated.

Sadie reminded him.

He’d forgotten about the vibrating egg she’d placed in his ass.
She
hadn’t. He jerked when the damn thing started moving and his balls filled. He had foolishly thought he would be able to outlast them.

Sadie seemed determined to win that race as the vibrations increased.

“Fuck me,” Joel muttered when the egg hit top speed, beating a tango in his ass that had him rutting like a wild beast. He pounded harder in Oakley’s ass, driving his lover deeper into Sadie.

Oakley was the first to plummet as he came loudly, cursing fluently. “Jesus mother-fucking Christ. Son of a goddamn bitch.”

Sadie followed, her nails scratching deeply into Oakley’s shoulders. His friend didn’t appear to feel any pain from her scoring.

That was Joel’s last cognizant thought before his climax struck. For one brief, astounding moment, the world went black. And then he tumbled, crash-landing into a heap of sweaty, trembling bodies gasping for breath.

“Holy shit.”

He chuckled at Sadie’s perfect summation of what had just happened. They slowly untangled body parts and, in the end, Joel found himself sandwiched between Oakley and Sadie. He reached for Sadie’s hand to tug the remote control from her clenched fist. Joel turned it off as Sadie giggled and said, “Sorry.”

“Someone is going to have to get this damn thing out of me,” he said, which prompted laughter from both sides of him.

“You aren’t fooling anybody, Joel. Why don’t you just go ahead and admit you like having your ass filled?”

Joel turned to give Oakley a warning glance. “Don’t start getting any ideas.” Then, he grinned, deciding he was an idiot to deny the truth. “Yet.”

Then he sat up and made his way to the bathroom to dispose of the condom. He was surprised to find Sadie and Oakley right on his heels.

Oakley pressed on his shoulders and Joel bent over at the sink so Sadie could tug her wicked toy free with some cord he’d spotted dangling between his legs.

“Where the hell did you get that thing?”

She winked. “Ordered it online the night you stopped being a stubborn ass and kissed Oakley at Pitchers.”

“Dammit, Sadie. There you go again. Just fell
even more
in love with you.”

Sadie laughed at Oakley’s proclamation. “I think that might be Woody talking. Are you sure you aren’t mixing up love for lust, Oak?”

Oakley kissed her on the cheek. “Is there a word that combines the two? I have to admit I’ve never had trouble figuring out what feelings were attached to my heart and which ones were cock-driven. I can’t separate the two with you. You’ve taken over everything, Sade. My heart, my head, my dick. So what’s the word for that?”

Joel could see Oakley’s words had touched her. “Maybe you could just combine the two words,” Sadie said.

Oakley nodded as he considered that suggestion. “Lost. Damn. That sums it up pretty fucking good. I’m lost, Sadie. And I don’t ever want to be found.”

She took Oakley’s hand, and then reached for Joel’s. “I’m lost too.”

Joel kissed her forehead. “Me too.”

Oakley stepped away first. “Shower?”

Joel shook his head. “Got a better idea.”

He grabbed three towels and led them both out the back door of the cabin. Night had fallen, but a full moon provided enough light for them to walk with ease. None of them bothered with clothing. It only took them a few minutes to carefully make their way along the path and down a slight incline to the creek that ran through several miles of the ranch property.

They’d had several afternoons of rain, so the water level was high enough to reach Joel’s mid-thigh. He’d noticed that fact this afternoon as they worked a couple of miles downstream and he’d considered stripping off and jumping in then, but Lorelie had called to say there was a motorcycle parked outside the bunkhouse. He and Oakley had dropped everything and hightailed it back home.

Joel stepped into the chilly water, then reached back to offer Sadie a hand. She shivered as she dipped one toe in.

“You sure you wouldn’t prefer a hot shower?” she asked.

He shook his head. “Nope. Like the idea of skinny-dipping with you. What’s the matter? Too cold for you?” His words were laced with a challenge, and it worked.

Sadie could never pass up a dare. She walked into the water and then, in true one-up-man style, sank down until she was sitting on the bottom.

Joel was convinced Oakley was a born polar bear, so he wasn’t surprised when his friend splashed in next to them and joined Sadie, the water reaching both of them at shoulder level.

Joel took a deep breath, and then sank down too. The cold water was a shock to his system for only a minute and then it felt good, cooling off his muscles, soothing away some aches produced from four days of nonstop, backbreaking work followed by one hell of a gymnastics routine in the bedroom.

Oakley had wrapped his hand around the back of Sadie’s neck, pulling her close for a kiss. Joel watched them, letting the peaceful night and the realization that Sadie was here sink in.

“You ready to tell us why you came back?” Joel asked when she and Oakley broke apart for some much-needed air.

She gave them a rueful grin. “As you know, I apparently have some unresolved mommy issues. I was trying to help you out, save you from yourselves.”

Oakley tugged her closer with an arm around her shoulders. Joel knew she was joking, but it was clear Oakley was still worried she’d take off again.

“We told you,” Oakley said. “We’re not going anywhere.”

“I know. It’s just going to take me some time to believe that, to trust it. But it’s nothing you guys have done. You’re wonderful. Like I said, it’s something I have to work on.”

Joel appreciated her honesty. It was one of the things that had drawn him to Sadie in the first place. “We have a lot of stuff to figure out, Sadie. As long as we’re committed to making it work, it will.”

“Like how to make a threesome permanent?” she asked.

Joel grinned. He loved the hell out of that question. “Yeah. That and other things.”

“Like where you stand on kids now,” Oakley added. Until he spoke Joel didn’t realize Sadie’s insistence that she didn’t want a baby had bothered his friend as much as it had him.

Sadie licked her lips, drawing Joel’s attention to their plumpness, a slight swelling caused by their kisses. “The idea of becoming a mother still terrifies me, but I want a baby. Desperately.”

Joel breathed out a long sigh. “Thank God.”

She ran her hand down his upper arm as if she was unable to be so close and not touch him. Joel understood the feeling.

“I want this to stick. I’ve never felt this happy,” she admitted.

Oakley found a smooth rock near the edge of the water. He scooted over to it, leaning back with his hands behind his head. Joel rolled his eyes at his friend’s lord-of-the-manor pose. “It’s smooth sailing from here on out. I got a good feeling about this.”

Sadie raised one eyebrow. “Do you? Are you forgetting who my father is?”

Oakley frowned. “I say we wait a few dozen years before we tell Mr. Milligan about us.”

Sadie shook her head. “Sorry to break it to you, but he already knows.”

Though it was dark outside, Joel could swear he saw Oakley go pale in the moonlight.

“He knows about both of us? And you?” Oakley asked.

Joel recalled his mother’s comment about keeping Oakley grounded. He suspected his mom would have some help in that area. Mr. Milligan was going to kick their asses.

“Yep. He wants the two of you to stop by some time so he can show you his gun collection.”

Sadie laughed and the sound set Joel at ease. While he didn’t pretend for one second her dad was okay with what they were doing, something in Sadie’s face told him that—like his mom—her father was going to try to accept it.

Even so, Joel said, “I’m never going to your dad’s house.”

Sadie winced at that. “You may have to reconsider that if…” She paused, clearly searching for a word. “If future events work out in a way that may or may not be in our favor.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Joel asked.

Sadie crinkled her nose. “It means my dad has the hots for your mom. He plans to ask her out.”

Oakley’s eyes widened in true terror. “Jesus Christ. We can’t let that unholy union form. If they combine forces, I’m a dead man.”

Joel didn’t reply as he let Sadie’s words soak in. Then he felt…happy. “I think that could actually work.”

Sadie and Oakley gave him matching astonished glances.

“Seriously?” Sadie asked.

“Yeah.” The more Joel thought about it, the more he hoped it did. “Yeah. I think they’d be really good for each other.”

Oakley remained unconvinced. “I think the blood flow hasn’t returned to your head yet. It’s obviously still pooling around in your crotch.”

Joel splashed Oakley, and the dirty bastard that lived in his cock actually responded to the word
crotch
. If the water weren’t so cold, he suspected he’d already be fully erect.

“Like I said. Lots of shit to figure out. Let’s put it all on the back burner for tonight. What do you say we go get hot and sweaty again?” Joel suggested.

“I thought you’d never ask,” Sadie said as she rose from the water, the drops sparkling in the moonlight as they slid along her silky skin.

Oakley clasped hands with Sadie, the two of them heading back to the bunkhouse. Joel was slower to follow.

He’d done it. Somehow he’d come out of the red zone and scored the biggest win of his life.

“Joel?” Sadie called out from somewhere in the darkness. “You lost?”

He was. Completely. Head over heels lost.

Joel stepped out of the water and onto the path. “I’m coming.”

Want to read more about the men and women of Quinn, Texas?

Check out these
Boys of Fall
books. Available now!

Tucker had only one aspiration in high school - to get the hell out of town the second that diploma was in his hands. The only way out was his talent as quarterback on the gridiron. And his plan worked. He turned pro his sophomore year of college and never looked back. Never had any regrets.

Except her. Lela and Tucker's romance had been like a force of nature - steamy, unstoppable and tempestuous. He had always turned to her to forget about how bad things were at home, but when things took a turn for the worse, he broke it off and ran. For twelve years he's stayed far away, unwilling to deal with his drunken father, his mother’s death, and unable to face the girl he never stopped thinking about.

When Tucker gets a call that his high school coach has suffered a heart attack and needs help, he has to make a decision. Does he return with his teammates to help his beloved coach? Does he take the risk of running into his father? What does he say to Lela about the way he disappeared so completely?